Brick-pallet-handling apparatus



G. E. LUCE BRICK PALLET HANDLING APPARATUS m. a, was. 1,473,3G5

Original Filed Aug. 25, 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 G. E. LUGE BRICK PALLET HANDLING APPARATUS Original Filed Aug. 25, 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I i c:

v I I I II I GRAFTDN E. LUCIE, O GHECAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN EQUEPMENT COM- PANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

BRIOK-PALLET-HANDLZNG AP?ARATUS.

Original application filed August 25,

1 0 (LU who/unit may canoe m:

Be it known that I, GRAFTOX E. LUon, a citizen of the United States, and resident oi @hicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented an Improvement in Brick-Pallet-Handling Apparatus, of which the following description, in connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a specificat-ion, like letters on the drawings represent in like parts.

lly present invention is apparatus intended to be used in connection with the pallet system. oi brick inai'iutacture, and is a division of my prior application Ser. No. 319,707. filed August- 25, 1919; In the present case I have illustrated, described and claimed my novel apparatus for use inre moving the green brick from pallets on which they have been placed for drying, and for holding the pallets while loading the brick onto a lrier car. To this end my apparatus onsists in movable devices, preferably swung from an overhead track and capable of being moved longitudinally of the drier, stopped at any posit-ion, with readily operable means thereon to engage, grasp and pull out a plurality of pallets simultaneously, supporting and holding these pallets in removed or partially removed position until the brick are taken therefrom. Further features oi the invention consist in automatic means to effect a firm grip on each pallet engaged by the apparatus; means to automatically compensate for variations in height oi? the pallets; means to so grip the pallets as to bring the principal pressure on the outer pipe of the rack, thus simplifying removal; nd. means to limit the outward pallet pullingmovement, so as to hold the same in substantially predetermined position.

- ier features of the invention, novel combinations oli parts and advantages will be more? fully hereinafter pointed out and cla'ned.

Fig". l is a fragmentary longitudinal view t :nipip'e rack drier of standard type :e r and. with allet 'ulle'r and J l P P con holder novel type of-apparatusfor use in.

unloading the brick fr'om the steam pipe racks onto the cars. i

Fig. 2 is a fragment cross-sectional view-st the steam pipe rack drier shown 1919, Serial No. 319 707.

Serial No. 362,849.

the: drier asequipped with the rope Divided and this application filed March illustrating the pallet puller and holder operating to support the pallets in convenient position for unloading the brick from the pellets onto the drier car;

Fig. 3 is a lfragmentary view on an enlarged scale illustrating the method of gripping the end of the pallets;

Fig. l is atragmentary view on the line of F 2;

Fig. 5 is a detailed view on the line 5F3 of Fig. 2.

My present apparatus or pallet miller" is intended for use in carrying; out the method of handling described in my said prior application, but is not limited thereto, and is useful and of benefit in hamlliin;- pallets of brick or the like in connectuni with other methods and other articles;

The u 'seoi my apparatus, however, in connection with the method of hand-ll as ex plained in said prior case and particularly in accordance with the usage generally em ployed in the so-called l-liudson River district, enables special advantages to be obtained. Thus it is possible to turn brick on edge, to flatten one edge, when: handling green brick, and thereby secure more brick on a pallet, if desired. Also, in unloading the brick from the pallet, it feasible lb stack the brick on a drier car, specially adapted to receive the pallets eudwi sc, i1 desired. Various other advantages of my present apparatus will readily occur to those skilled in the art.

Referring to Figs. l and 2 wherein a steam pipe rack drier illustrated, l have shown a drier 0t well-knmvn type comprising a plurality of pipe supports or standards 20, the steam pipes beingarranged in series to form shelves. as shown at 21, 21. l hese steam pipe racks receive the pallets 22 lenggtlnvi of the pallets tor the depth oi the pipe racks, thus p-resen'ting the end pallet lei the operaloia It is usual in load ine brick into a steam pipe rack drier to employ rope conveyor, as indicated in Figs.

s pi. 25, this being shown in convenorn i, the pellets carrying the nick being brought into the drier on the uppermost pairs of ropes and wheels and the empty pal-let's being" set back on the return ropes and wheels as clearly shown in the drawings. These conveyors are fitted within the drier-s and operated during the load:

ing of the green brick intorthe drierat which time the empty palletstrom thepreceding load are returned. Heretofore it'has beenrcustomary to use I wheel barrows or other types of trucks to receive the green brick when unloaded from this type of drier,

I [j the operator drawing out a pallet by hand,

supporting its'e'ntire weight, resting one end of the pallet on the car or wheel barrow,

tilting up the other end and letting the en'.

tire number ofbrick on the pallet slide off ontothe wheel barrow or truck, then replac ing the pallet and repeating this process.

My invention however enables a much simpler process to be utilized to load the brick directly ,from the pallet onto the car 10 en "abling the operator to pile up the brick in desired formation on the car 10 from a steam pipe rackdrier as well as from the former driers. For this purpose I have deviseda pallet puller and holder which will now be described. It will be appreciated that with a car 10 in the drier, it would be diflicult forthe operator to draw out a pallet of brick when the same are endwise, as in j a steam piperack drier, and both'hold the pallet with its load of brick and transfer the brick therefrom onto the car. 7

Since steam pipe rack driers are substan: tially permanent buildings having substan tially partitioned Walls 30 and permanently constructed roofs 81, I apply a suitable num-' ber of cross bars 33 which may be utilizedto advantage in the ordinary construction of the drier ,or may be applied to existing driers. On these cross bars, hangers 34 are fitted at suitable spaces which receive tracks 85. wheels 41, 41 on each track 35and spaced to span thedistance between said tracks has a traveling carriage 44 which is adapted 'to' traversethe crane 40. Fixed on the crane 40 is a rack secured to a pair of brackets 46; 46, the ,latter' carrying angle irons 47-, 47,

and 48, 48, constituting tracks for the wheels 50 of the carriage 44. On the axle 51 of one pair of the carriage wheels 50'is keyed a with one of the teeth'in the gear 52. but noranally held out of mesh by'a coiled spring 58 bearing between the guiding lug 59 and a collar-60 on said rod. The operatorupon grasping the handle56 may also grasp the lever 61 and force the rod 57 upward against the tension of the spring 58 and into engage A crane 40 having a pair or flanged mont r-wit-h the rack bar, then swinging the handle forwardly and backwardly and thus move the entire carriage and its'palletsupporting means (to be described) transversely of the crane.- cA few manipulations in this mannerqwill readily move the carriage forwardly or backwardly. -l' Secured to the car riage is adownwardly extending member 66 preferablyqmade of} two channel beams united by a plate and cross members tending from the carriage 44 downwardly to: the member 66 substantially as shown in Figs. 1 and'2. f f j On this member 66 is mounted a plurality of brackets 70 7 0,jeach carrying upstanding lugtowhich is pivoted at 71 a jaw 7 2; this jaw "preferably extends forwardly .to scoop erate withthe outermost end of the bracket member70 and also-extends rearwardly with a bored recess to encirclea rod 74; Secured to the rod 74 adjacent each jaw 72 is a collar "75 and a coiled spring 76, encircling the rod 74, bears beweenithe collar 75 and the adj as cent portion of the jaw 72 but only when the rod 74-is under tension to close the jaws, then this spring gives an independently yielding and substantially a uniform gripfor each and all of the jaws. T'o'thus actuate these jaws simultaneously, I provide a foot lever 95 pivoted at '81 to alug 82' arrangedatl the lowermost end of the member 66 and having the other end of said lever pivotally secured V at 84 to the end of the rod 7 4, arack 85 adapted to cooperatewith the toothed edge of the lever 80 is also provided so that the operator on pressing downwardly on the foot treadle 80' and swinging the: same slightly over against the rack 75 may depress thesame and hold the rod 74 elevated in any desired position, thusapplyingproper gripping and p holding tension to all the jaws 72. These jaws are substantially in alinement with the pipe racks formed by the pipes 21 and the jaws opened sufiiciently to allow for; any 119 reasonable inequalities in height ofthepaL lets 22 as the same rest upon the pipe 21. In

the operation of this apparatus,when the car 10 has been run into the steam pipe rack drierfornloading, the operator moves thecrane 40 on {its wheels and trac'ksuntil the member 66 and its line of jaws are in posi= tion opposite the ends of a tier of pallets" fwhi'ch' it is desired to pull out and from p which the brick are to beremoved-onto the 2" drier car. It will be understood that the V pallets are all normally resting on the'rack T pipe 21 and therefore substantially within the frams20 of'the'steain pipe rack drier,-

On a fewfin'anipulations of'the lever 57 the carriage 44 is then moved inwardly until the jaws 72, which are then opened, are in position to engage the projecting edgesof the pallets '22;-thereupon the operator applies pressure tothe foot treadle 80 thus simul 75; and braced by'a pair of'bra'ces 67,c'67 ex- 1 ,avasos taneously actuating all the jaws 72 to grasp the adjacent jaw portions of the pallets in position. It is customary to have these pipe rack driers of about fourteen tiers in height and accordingly fourteen pairs of aws would be provided, suitably spaced. I find it desirable to arrange the jaws so that, when the jaws '72 are closed upon the cooperating bracket member 70, a tendency to slightly incline the pallets 22, lifting the rearmost portions and resting the same substantially on the outermost pipe 21-as shown in Fig. 3-will facilitate the withdrawing of the pallets from the rack to the position shown in Fig. 8. To effect this withdrawal, the operator also manipulates the lever 57 in reverse direction so that the gear 52 will move the carriage it along the rack 45, the entire carriage and pallet puller and supporter is thus drawn out into the passageway adjacent the car 10 and with each brick on each pallet within convenient reach of the operator to grasp the brick and unload same from the pallets onto the drier car, building up the brick on the drier car in hacked relation. or formation. Thus the utilization of my apparatus, just explained, positions and holds the pallets in a steam pipe rack drier in a convenient location for the operator. I contemplate the employment of two operators loading the car 10 from each end when unloading from a steam pipe rack drier, as just explained. Furthermore when a plurality of cars are to be loaded, 1 contemplate the operators taking only alternate tiers of pallets, leaving the other tiers for the successive unloading operation of the second operator as the cars are moved forwardly from time to time and the racks unloaded.

hly invention is further described and defined in the form of claims as follows 1. Apparatus of the kind described, comprising a movable support, a plurality of clamps carried by said support, said clamps being spaced approximately equal to the distance between the pallet receiving pipes in a steam pipe drier, and means for moving the clamps to engage and hold a plurality of pallets under substantially equivalent holding tension.

2. Apparatus of the kind described comprising a movable support, an overhead traveling carriage to which said support is attached, a plurality of clamps arranged vertically on said support, said clamps having pallet engaging jaws and being spaced approximately equal to the standard sized pipe rack driers on which brick-carrying pallets are placed, said clamps being adapted to normally open a considerable scope to allow for inequalities in the spacing and height of the pallets and clamps, in combination with means to move the carriage transversely and longitudinally, together with means to engage said pallets by the clamps, and to disengage said pallets, at will.

Apparatus of the kind described comprising a transverse and longitudinally movable carrier, a depending support, a pluralit of clamps on said support, an operating liandle having means to move the carriage and support and lock it in position where moved, clamping and unclamping means to actuate the clamps simultaneously and a foot treadle to actuate said clamping and unclamping means.

4:. Apparatus of the kind described comprising a transverse and longitudinally movable carrier, a depending support, a plurality of clamps on said support, an operating handle having means to move the carriage and support and lock it in position where moved, a rod extending adjacent the clamps, each clamp having a movable jaw extending adjacent said rod, collars on the rod adjacent each jaw and yielding means between said collars and jaw extension, in combinaton with a foot treadle to move the rod and close all of said clamps yieldingly.

5. Apparatus of the kind described, comprising clamping means to engage one end of a pallet while in a pipe rack drier, and means to operate said clamping means and to simultaneously produce a tilting action on the pallet when clamped, to facilitate withdrawing the pallet by outward movement of the clamp, causing the pallet to rest on the outermost edge of the pipe rack support.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

GRAFTON E. LUCE. 

